Ancient Egyptian Flint Hand axe - knife. 9.5 cm H. Neolithic P. - Predynastic, 6000 - 3500 BC

Hand axe - knife

CULTURE: Ancient Egypt

PERIOD: Neolithic P. - Predynastic, 6000 - 3500 BC

MATERIAL: Flint

DIMENSIONS: 9.5 cm height.

PROVENANCE:
- Private collection, B. L., Paris, France, 1960 - 1970.

CONDITION: It is preserved in its original state. Beautyful example.

DESCRIPTION:

Almost all the cultural material existing in these formative periods has been found in burial sites. These all have great similarities as they consist of a hole in the ground where the deceased is placed in a foetal position and where the dryness of the desert mummifies the corpse and preserves it for eternity. Grave goods were placed around the body. These principally consisted of: jewellery; vases both in stone of many different types and terracotta, in which notable pieces have been found in animal forms; cosmetic palettes in animal and geometric forms and lastly, knives and other flint instruments.

Flint is an impure and compact variety of quartz-chalcedony. It is found in abundance in both Egypt and Sudan in the form of pebbles along the length of the Nile Valley, and as nodules or masses of smaller or greater size in sedimentary rock such as limestone which has been mined at least since the Neolithic period.

The colour of flint varies from dark grey, to light ochre or blonde. It was used in Egypt from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Kingdom. Its use competed with copper in weaponry. Flint was mostly used for arms and utensils such as arrow points, darts, lances, knives, chisels, burins, scrapers and sickle blades, although it was also used to make bracelets and vessels. Due to its magic properties texts mention its use in the making of certain amulets.

It is not necessary to point out the importance of this material in its pre-historic use. However the role it played in the mentality of the Ancient Egyptians as “the stone of preference of the Gods in their struggle against the demons of the Other World” is practically unknown. This ritual role of flint appears in two forms, one material and the other linguistic.

The care taken in the fashioning of flint objects suffered a sort of falling-off: while its use still continued until the Ptolemaic Period, its working became cruder, by simple percussion flaking which was quicker and easier. However, the religious connection continued, as proof of this we have the existence of the word used for flint in the Egyptian language which also means “knife”, and was used by the King of the Gods to defeat demons. It is a “stone used to beat and annihilate the enemies in the underworld”. This association can be found up until the Roman era in ritual texts. So that for more than two millennia, the King or the Gods annihilated the enemy with a “flint” thus adding the stone’s magic character to its efficacy as a cutting object.



Notes:
The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.
The piece includes authenticity certificate.
The piece includes Spanish Export License.